A short time later, several deer arrived, including two bucks. She bagged the larger one.

"I've always prayed the Rosary on the tree stand. That's a tradition. You get up in the morning, you pray the Rosary in the tree stand. So, I just think the Blessed Mother did smile upon me."

The nun learned to shoot while serving in the Navy. She said there’s something spiritual about hunting.

"When you're up on a tree stand, you're still, you're quiet. You listen. You watch as the frosty ground just becomes alive. It's like creation all over."

She has read comments on the Diocese of Erie Facebook page criticizing her for killing a beautiful animal, but she says it’s more about conservation than the thrill of the hunt because without the deer harvest, the animals would starve.